Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin met the media Friday morning for the final time before the Super Bowl. Belichick says all pro Tight End Rob Gronkowski's ankle continues to improve.

There was no way Angelo Dundee was going to miss Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday party.
The genial trainer got to see his old friend, and reminisce about good times. It was almost as if they were together in their prime again, and what a time that was.
Dundee died in his apartment in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday night at the age of 90, and with him a part of boxing died, too.
He was surrounded by his family, said his son, Jimmy, who said the visit with Ali in Louisville, Ky., meant everything to his Dad.
“It was the way he wanted to go,” the son said. “He did everything he wanted to do.”

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — From pickpockets and prostitutes to dirty bombs and exploding manhole covers, authorities are bracing for whatever threat the first Super Bowl in downtown Indianapolis might bring.

Some — nuclear terrorism, for instance — are likely to remain just hypothetical. But others, like thieves and wayward manhole covers, are all too real.

Though Indianapolis has ample experience hosting large sporting events — the Indianapolis 500 attracts more than 200,000 fans each year, and the NCAA's men's Final Four basketball tournament has been held here six times since 1980— the city's first Super Bowl poses some unique challenges.

The playoffs have a way of bringing out the pedigree in NFL quarterbacks. Simply take a look at the fingers of Tom Brady and Eli Manning to recognize it.
Brady has three Super Bowl rings, with another taken away by Manning and the Giants in 2008. Both have their teams on course for a reprise of that memorable title game.
Standing in their way are two inconsistent QBs seeking to fill out their own championship resumes: Joe Flacco of Baltimore and Alex Smith of San Francisco.
Based on their histories and the way they have performed this season, Brady and Manning overmatch Flacco and Smith. When things have gotten tight for New England or New York, the quarterback often has provided the winning edge.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic was having an easy time of it in his first-round match at the Australian Open, so he decided to experiment by coming to the net.
Like pretty much everything he does on the tennis court these days, it was an unqualified success. He easily beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 Tuesday to advance to the second round, as did five-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams.
Djokovic is attempting to join Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in winning three straight Grand Slam singles titles.

Athletes and coaches don’t live in the past. They do get enlightened and even uplifted from it.
The Green Bay Packers and New York Giants have good memories from recent postseasons. Green Bay went from sixth-seeded NFC wild card to Super Bowl champion a year ago. New York used a similar route to win the 2007 NFL championship — winning at Lambeau Field on the way.
They meet Sunday in the final game of the divisional round.
In going 15-1, including winning all eight home games, the Packers established themselves as the cream of the NFL this season. They have gotten healthy during their bye. They beat the Giants 38-35 in the Meadowlands on Dec. 4.
Most significantly, they discovered how to win in last year’s surge to the title.